Slinky
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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Slinky is a game where you control a spring and jump from block to block and attempt to change all the blocks to a destination color. The game has a very obvious Q*Bert influence. However, there are some original elements as well. 

Various objects float about the screen, like magnets, clouds, raindrops, and other monsters. The monsters are the only one that are a direct threat. The magnets can only grab you if you are not moving. The raindrops actually give you greatly increased speed, and the clouds turn you 'dusty'. Be careful, if you get hit by both a raindrop and a cloud, then your spring rusts and is dragged off by an oil-can.

In addition to having five lives, you also must avoid running out of points. An 8000 point bonus appears briefly over various squares, and you need to catch at least some of them, because every jump decreases your points, and getting 'killed' and knocked off the blocks decreases points even faster.

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OVERVIEW         
                       
SLINKY was just out having some fun hop-
ping around.There was a stack of colored
blocks that looked like a good place to 
jump, so he started bouncing up and down
the rows. Each time he jumped on a cube,
it changed color. Wow! This was really  
fun. But...look out SLINKY, these blocks
belong to the Wicked Wizard of Cubet,and
He doesn't like anyone else messing with
his toys. Pretty soon he'll send some of
his 'friends' to spoil your afternoon.  
Keep moving fast before you get 'bent   
out of shape'.                          
                                        
USING THE JOYSTICK                      
Plug the Joystick into CONTROL PORT NO.2
(The Joystick will not function in CON- 
TROL PORT NO.1). Hold the Joystick with 
the red fire button in the upper left   
corner facing the TV.                   
You can move the SLINKY by moving the   
joystick in any of the four DIAGONAL di-
rections:                               
DOWN-RIGHT,DOWN-LEFT,UP-RIGHT,UP-LEFT.  
Note that ONLY diagonal movements with  
the joystick will work. This may take   
some practice to get accustomed to. When
you move the joystick in one of the dia-
gonal directions, the SLINKY will jump  
in that direction.                      
                                                           
PLAYING SLINKY FOR THE FIRST TIME       
After SLINKY has loaded into the compu- 
ter you will see the title page of the  
game.After a few moments the game screen
will be displayed automatically. SLINKY 
appears at the top left portion of the  
screen,sitting atop one of the 54 cubes 
of the playfield.SLINKY only moves dia- 
gonally. Pressing the joystick handle at
any angle will cause SLINKY to move in  
that direction.Be careful that you don't
jump off the blocks, as that will cost  
you points and a player! You begin with 
5 players and 25,000 points. The object 
is to guide SLINKY via the joystick over
all the cubes and change the tops to the
appropriate color. Once you have changed
all the blocks to the desired color     
(which is the same color on the screen  
as your score numbers)without losing all
your points or players, you will automa-
tically advance to the next level.If you 
wish to restart from the first level,   
press the RUN/STOP key.If you wish to   
continue playing from the last level you
were playing when finally destroyed, do 
nothing and the screen will reset auto- 
matically.                              
                                        
SLINKY '64 has a number of 'half time'  
shows. If you complete a level without  
losing a player, you will see a high    
speed 'Instant Replay' of your success- 
ful moves. If you complete a level after
having lost one or more players,you will
view one of five cartoon 'featurettes'  
celebrating your achievement.However, if
you lose at any level, the cartoon de-  
picts Slinky's demise. (Ugh!)           
                                                                    
LEVELS                                  
Level 1: On this level you must change  
all the cube tops to the score color.The
cubes will only change color the first  
time SLINKY jumps on them. If SLINKY    
jumps off the edge, you will lose one   
player and a certain number of points   
depending on the row from which you fell
(See Scoring Section). When SLINKY jumps
into any one of the three black 'Hyper- 
Holes',he will immediately return to his
original starting position,and be 'clea-
ned' back to his original color in case 
he has become 'dirty' (brown) or 'wet'  
(blue). You must avoid 'Dusty' the dust 
cloud and 'Marge' the magnet which ran- 
domly cross the screen. If you collide  
with Dusty you will turn brown and be   
charged extra points for each move, and 
Marge will drag you off the screen and  
drop you to your doom.Occasionally a bo-
nus score of 8,000 points will appear as
a flashing cube on the screen. Whenever 
you land on this bonus block, you will  
hear a tone and receive the additional  
points.You will also notice that 'Ralph'
the 'random rain drop' begins falling   
down the screen. If SLINKY is hit by    
Ralph when he is yellow, he becomes wet 
(blue)and is allowed to move much faster
and spend zero points per move. However,
if after SLINKY is wet(blue),he collides
with Dusty, he will rust and turn dark  
brown. Now SLINKY can't move, and 'Oil  
Can Charlie' will appear to remove him  
from the screen.                        
                                        
Level 2: Your enemies are faster,but al-
so the cubes now change colors back and 
forth each time SLINKY jumps on them.   
Therefore,you must plan your sequence of
of moves very carefully.The Hyper-Holes  
may become an important part of your    
strategy.                               
                                        
Level 3: Although the colors only change
the first time SLINKY jumps on a cube,  
you must now contend with 'Mandrake' the
metal head.He randomly descends down the
screen, and any collision with SLINKY is
fatal. Also, when Mandrake is ready to  
leave, he may exit the playfield in any 
one of eight directions. Beware!        
                                        
Level 4: Egad!Here comes Mandrake,Dusty,
Marge and Randy all at the same time and
the cube colors change twice.           
                                        
Level 5: Zounds and Gadzooks! Here comes
'Lorenzo' the dreaded 'cube hopper'. He 
follows you whereever you go. You can   
jump over Lorenzo when he is moving but 
you should make certain that SLINKY is  
wet(blue) when entering this level since
speed is of the essence in completing   
this challenge.                         
                                        
Level 6: Lorenzo and Mandrake team up on
SLINKY.                                 
                                        
Level 7: Dusty, Marge and Randy join in 
the challange with Lorenzo and cube co- 
lors change twice.                      
                                        
Level 8: Mandrake speeds up and the two 
color action continues.                 
                                        
Level 9: Lorenzo speeds up and the pace 
intensifies.                            
                                        
Level 10: Everybody gets in the act and 
the two color pace becomes incredible!  
                                        
Level 11-20: The same hazards now chal- 
lenge SLINKY as in the first ten levels 
except each cube color changes three ti-
mes!Remember to check your 'SCORE' color
or you may forget the desired winning   
color objective.                        
                                        
Level 21-99: If you are good enough to  
get to level 21, you can probably figure
out the next levels. But... be prepared 
for changing screens, disappearing cubes
blacked out conditions and flashing co- 
lors... all designed to confuse you and 
SLINKY!                                 
                                        
                                        
SCORING                                 
You begin the game with 25,000 points   
and five SLINKY'S. When SLINKY is clean 
(yellow) he spends 100 points each time 
he moves. If he becomes dirty (brown) by
by colliding with Dusty,then each move  
costs 500 points. When SLINKY is wet    
(blue)after encountering Ralph the 'ran-
dom rain drop', then his moves cost no- 
thing unless he jumps on a cube that has
endofscroll
already once changed color. However if  
SLINKY is wet and then is hit by Dusty, 
he will rust and be disposed of by Char-
lie. Marge the 'magnificent magnet' can 
make or break SLINKY.When she grabs him,
SLINKY receives 3,200 points per cube he
crosses,but... he loses 3,300 points per
row that he falls. (The message here is 
to not let Marge drop you too far!)     
SLINKY receives 500 points for being hit
by Ralph and 8,000 points for each bonus
block. At the end of each game, (not at 
the the conclusion of each level, so     
watch your score and don't run out of   
points!) you will be awarded 100,000    
points times the level you have comple- 
ted.You will receive one additional pla-
yer for each level you successfully com-
plete, up to a maximum of nine players. 

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Description from the packaging:

Arcade quality. Fast action.
Wow! Slinky has some real problems. Not only does he have to change the colors on a maze of blocks, but he must elude a series of "Evil Meanies" who are trying to rust his springs. But don't despair, Slinky's got a few tricks up his sleeve!
Multi-phase/Multi-level.
Full color and sound.
